


"You are such a lovable dummy."

by xisuthros



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 19:23:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4799378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xisuthros/pseuds/xisuthros
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitlin gets jealous when Barry goes out with Patty, so she kisses Jay Garrick. Barry finds out and confronts his feelings for her. Originally posted on my Tumblr (xisuthros).</p>
            </blockquote>





	"You are such a lovable dummy."

Looking back, it probably had not been a good idea. 

Caitlin sat glumly at the bar, swirling around her drink as she thought over the mess that had been today. Everything had started out great; she had woken up in a good mood, traffic wasn’t too bad, and Team Flash had even gotten a few more metahumans in before lunch. Having Jay Garrick mentor Barry had been a real help; he had since been getting faster and more disciplined than he ever had been under Dr. Wells. 

The bartender came over and asked if she wanted another drink, to which she gladly accepted. Caitlin tried to block out the hurt feelings that had occurred right after they had caught their second bad guy that day. It had been another simple drill, everything had been going great, until Barry started to get ready to go home.

“Alright guys,” he said, putting the Flash suit back on the mannequin. “I gotta go; I’ve got a date tonight and I can’t be late.”

Caitlin remembered how her stomach seemed to drop, and something heated, something primal had risen up in her chest. She had known for a while that she was in love with Barry, but she had held off on telling him because she had assumed that they were both single and she had plenty of time to muster up the courage. Now that he had a date, she suddenly felt like he was slipping away from her. 

Trying not to sound like she was jealous, she asked, “What was her name again? Petunia? Betty?” She was going to be sick. 

Barry smiled at her, something that always seemed to make her heart flutter no matter how many times he did it. “Patty.” he said, striding out towards the door. “Don’t wait up for me guys, if everything goes well there might even be a second date!” Practically skipping, she watched helplessly as the man she loved went happily to a date with another woman. 

Cisco had come over after sending Jay to go and change. “Are you okay?” he asked, sitting in the other chair next to her by the computers. She hadn’t told him that she was in love with Barry, but Caitlin knew that Cisco probably suspected it. He had once told her when she had been staring at Barry when she thought no one was looking that heart-eyes were only meant to be in emoji form. 

She busied herself, shuffling papers clicking on various pages on the computer. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” She asked unconvincingly. Mentally, she kicked herself. Cisco had been her friend for years, he knew all the tell-tale signs of her being upset.

The engineer surprised her and simply nodded and got up out of the chair to start walking over to where Jay was emerging from changing. He stopped and looked back at her. “You’ve been through a lot this past year Caitlin.” he said sympathetically. “You deserve happiness, in whatever form it takes.” With that, he continued out the door while Jay stood there confused. 

Caitlin’s mind was reeling. Yes, she had gone though a lot. Her late husband Ronnie had been sucked into the singularity that had given them Jay, Zoom, and a host of other metahumans from another dimension. Wow, just saying that in her head made her seem like she was crazy. She had mourned her husband for a few weeks, but the pain eventually started to wear off. She had already lost him once and had gone through that devastating experience; it had been no new rodeo to loose him again. 

Over the following months, she began to notice that her crush for Barry had resurfaced. When Ronnie had been gone the first time, she had begun to have feelings for the Scarlet Speedster but she never acted on it because she was still in mourning. Just when she thought they might actually become a thing, Ronnie had returned and she had resigned herself to the fact that both her and Barry were meant to be with someone else; him with Iris and her with Ronnie. However, now that her late husband was gone her feelings for Barry had resurfaced and with greater intensity. 

Now, she couldn’t even look at him without feeling like she had just run a marathon. Her heart constantly beat out of her chest whenever he was near her; the cheap cologne he wore that was so, well, him always made her knees feel weak whenever he would stand too close to her. Every time he complimented her or said she looked nice when she walks into the cortex, Caitlin could swear her face turns bright magenta. 

There had been a few times where she thought he might have some feelings for her as well. Back when they had both had their karaoke night (she was beyond pissed that she did not remember more of it), she could have sworn that he had carried her home and had stayed by her side the whole night, changing her out of her dress (she was really kicking herself for not remembering that) and gently rubbing a spot on her thigh comfortingly as she slowly fell asleep. 

His various expressions during the time that Ronnie came back had confused her. Every so often, she would catch him looking at her like she was some prize that he had let get away and was kicking himself for loosing. Ever since Ronnie had gone the second time, they had become more flirty and more teasing of one another, and she could have sworn when she had teased him the other week his eyes had dropped down to her lips for a fraction of a second. 

All of these thoughts had been broken when Jay had walked over and sat down where Cisco had been. “Is everything really okay?” he asked.

Suddenly, desperation and jealously began to get the better of her. If Barry was unavailable, then she needed to get back out there and who better than someone that had the most in common with him? Jay was really nice, was pretty pleasing on the eyes as well, and was completely available. Maybe if she went out with someone else, Barry would get jealous and finally make a move on her. Summoning up her courage, she rolled her chair over next to him and firmly pulled him in for a searing kiss. 

Immediately, Caitlin knew she had done the wrong thing. Instead of feeling free and excited to be getting back in the game, she felt an overwhelming sense of regret. Suddenly, she realized that she could not get over her feelings for Barry that easily. With a sickening jolt, she realized that her feelings for him went far deeper than she had thought. Kissing Jay had felt like she was somehow cheating on Barry, even though the were not even a couple. Her need to be with him was slowly overwhelming her and if she wasn’t careful she would make another huge mistake. It was wrong, it felt wrong, and suddenly she just needed to leave. 

To his credit, Jay didn’t seem to shocked by what had just happened. He just sat there with an unreadable expression on his face as Caitlin apologized profusely and gathered her things hurriedly. When she turned to walk away, he gently grabbed her arm.

“Its okay, Caitlin.” He said, but it was really, really, not. “When the time is right, he’ll see.” This made her freeze. Did even Jay suspect something now? Someone who had only been there all of three months already thought she had a thing for Barry? What if Barry himself knew and that was why he was going out with miss-I’m-on-the-police-force-with-him-so-I-get-to-ask-him-out-whenever-I-feel-like-it-Patty. Maybe he was giving her a signal that he had noticed her feelings and was trying to wordlessly shoot her down. 

Caitlin knew that Jay was trying to be nice and understanding, so she gave him a small smile before she slowly walked out the door, feeling an unbearable weight on her heart. She really needed a drink.

That is what led her to be sitting at the bar, on her fourth drink and feeling no better than when she came in there. It was if Barry was in her head, imprinted on her soul, and she wanted to both get him out and never let him go. Sighing, she put her head in her hands just as he felt the chair next to her being filled by someone.

“Bartender? Could I get a scotch, neat? Thanks.” Caitlin froze.

That voice. 

She slowly raised her head and looked over only to see Barry gazing at her like she she needed a hug. Truthfully, she could actually use one of their hugs; it was the only time she ever felt at home anymore. Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she tried to look nonchalant but it was hard when you were on your fourth drink.

“Barry!” She said, trying not to sound too surprised, because she was (how the heck did he find me? she wondered). “Whats going on?”

“Oh not much.” He answered. “Patty cancelled on me, and Cisco said you might be down here.” Caitlin was confused. How did Cisco know she was here?  
He looked at her briefly with an expression she had only seen on him when he used to talk to Iris. The bartender brought his drink over and she eyed it curiously. 

“I thought alcohol doesn’t affect you.” She stated.

He nodded. “It doesn’t.” He admitted, swirling his glass like she had done not moments before. “But Oliver almost always gets this when he goes to a bar and I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about.” With that, he downed the glass and immediately grimaced. “Ugh. Its a wonder he even has any lungs left!” She couldn’t help but chuckle at his adorable face, then immediately chastised herself for thinking that when she was trying to get over him.

As if he could sense her mentally backpedaling, Barry spoke up. “Caitlin, what’s wrong?” Stupid Barry and his stupid attempts at being super stupid nice, she thought. 

She sighed. “I’m just feeling a little down.” She admitted, not being able to fully lie to him. 

“You know, I talked to Jay before I came over here.” he said, making her gag on her drink and look at him with wide eyes. “And he said he and you did something interesting after we all left.” Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. 

“Barry, its not what you think…” She began, but he cut her off.

“I didn’t know you and he were…a thing.” He said the last few words carefully, and if she didn’t know any better, he sounded almost…no, she wasn’t going there. In her haste to sit up straighter, she missed the way Barry’s eyes flashed heartbrokenly for a split second. 

“We’re not.” She said and noticed how his eyes seemed to be relieved. That time, she didn’t imagine it. Thinking for a moment and gathering whatever courage the drinks had given her, she teased lightly. 

“Barry Allen, are you jealous?” She wiggled her eyebrows to try and get him to smile. 

To her surprise, he said. “Yes. Actually, I am.” Suddenly, she was speechless and sat there looking at him shocked.  
He seemed to gather his courage as well. “Caitlin,” he began. “I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while now, and it took Jay knocking some sense into me for me to finally say this. I love you.” She held her breath, not quite believing what she was hearing. “I really like you,” he went on, as if not sure she got his point and trying not so sound like he was coming on too strong. “Like like you, like you. I just never could find the courage to let you know how I felt and I guess it took you and Jay kissing to finally snap me out of it.” Caitlin couldn’t speak, her heart was too busy dancing for joy and her mind was still trying to process that fact that Barry loved her back.

He went on. “I understand if you don’t feel the same way, and I really value our friendship more than anything.” Caitlin’s joy was cut short when she realized he thought she didn’t feel the same way. She needed to fix this right now or he might go off thinking that things just became really awkward between them. “I just wanted to tell you so that you know and I hope this doesn’t make things awk-” Barry was stopped mid-sentence as Caitlin grabbed him by his coat and pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

Though at first in shock, she was glad to feel him respond enthusiastically. He slid a hand down her arm an onto her waist as their lips molded against each other, dancing a dance that had been years in the making. When he tentatively slid his tongue across her lower lip, she almost melted right there on the spot. Tilting her head to the side to kiss him deeper, she did the same to him and was pleased at the moan that arose from the back of his throat. Her heart sang and with her hands on his neck, she could feel his pulse quickening along with the speed and rhythm that their lips were now sliding against each other, as if they had always meant to be together. 

A loud cough interrupted them and they jumped apart, both breathing heavily and red in the face. The turned and saw the bartender looking at them with a stern expression.

“Hey lovebirds, take it outside will you? I don’t care how cute you are, this is a bar not a sex club.” He said the last sentence with a small grin. 

Giggling, Caitlin took Barry’s hand in hers and led him out of the bar, trying to walk straight when he hugged her from behind and started planting small kisses to the back of her neck. She knew they still had a lot to talk about, but for now she was just grateful that they were finally on the same page and that for the first time in months, she didn’t feel so alone. Barry was there, and she knew that everything would be alright.


End file.
